Railway car center bearing assembly

ABSTRACT

A center plate assembly for railway cars including a detachably mounted center filler which may consist of one or more separate sections disposed between a body center plate and a truck bolster center plate bowl of the railway car, the bearing surfaces of the center filler having a hardness greater than the bearing surface of the truck center plate bowl and no less than the hardness of the body center plate to produce a very low rate of wear. Also, means are provided to inhibit relative movement of all bearing surfaces except those required to move.

United States Patent 1191 1 11 3,831,530 Cope et al. 1 Aug. 27, 1974 4]RAILWAY CAR CENTER BEARING .72 1 1 12s g/lggg was: 2/220 ASSEMBLY ,0 l 1mg teta.. l 7 2,258,640 lO/194l Beckette IDS/199C X Inventors: GeoffreyWilton p Williamsville; 3,473,854 l0/l969 Shafer 308/137 Loren WilliamSmith, Eggertsville, 3,709,151 1/1973 Cook et a1. 105/199 C both of NY.2,229,925 1/1941 Jackson 105/199 C X [73] Assignee: Dresser Industries,Inc., Dallas, Tex. Primary Henson wood Jr [22] Filed: Oct. 19, 1972Assistant Examiner-Howard Beltran 1 .N 9 9 5 [2 1 App] 2 6 57 ABSTRACT Acenter plate assembly for railway cars including a [52] U.S. Cl. 105/199C, 105/226, 308/137 detachably mounted center finer which may Consist of[51] Int. Cl. B61f l/14, B6lf 5/16, B6lf 5/18 0 e or more Se arate sectins dis d betw 58] Field of Search 105/199 c 200 226- n p 0 can a 3O8/136body center plate and a truck bolster center plate bowl of the railwaycar, the bearing surfaces of the center filler having a hardness greaterthan the bearing [56] References cued surface of the truck center platebowl and no less than UNITED STATES PATENTS the liardness o; the bilclycenter plate to pjroluce a 403,560 5/1889 Schoen 308/137 very ow rateowear. so, means are provi e to 1n- 905,754 12/1908 Skahcn 3308/13; hibitrelative movement of all bearing surfaces except 1,009,306 11/1911Hennessey 08 13 h d t 1,147,210 7/1915 Coleman 308/137 088 requlre 0njove 1,653,564 12/1927 Hawley 308/137 16 Cla ms, 9 a na igures IRAILWAY CAR CENTER BEARING ASSEMBLY The field of art to which theinvention pertains includes the art of railway rolling stock and morespecifically to a car body underframe for mounting onto the bolster of asupporting truck.

It is conventional that the entire car weight is carried on two circularcenter plates secured to two body bolsters and which engage two matingfemale bowls on cooperating truck bolsters. As a consequence, the centerplates must endure not only the weight of the car and lading distributedover their engaging surfaces under standing conditions, but also theshifting concentration and dynamic augment of these loads withassociated wear encountered under rolling in-service conditions. Inaccordance with the prior art, a preferred construction has been thecombination of a fabricated or cast steel center filler with or withoutdraft lugs, a through bottom cover plate and a separate center platebolted or welded to the bottom cover plate. This permits easy removal ofthe center plate when it has become worn or cracked and over the yearshas been found to provide a center plate life expectancy of about toyears.

With the recent advent of higher, longer and heavier cars for increasedloading capacity, it has been found that such prior designs of centerplates have been unable to withstand the greater loading forces imposed.Center plates under these conditions have been generally characterizedby reduced life expectancies on the order of l to 2 years, renderingmaintenance and car down time costs unduly excessive if not prohibitive.From the standpoint of minimizing down time and repair costs, it isdesirable to provide regularly detachable center fillers which may beutilized in an initial installation or as a replacement and which may bereadily attached to the existing body bolster-center sill structure, andwhich is rugged enough to produce a repair assembly having a significantlife expectancy for the existing load conditions.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a novel centerplate assembly for conventional center sill-body bolster and truckbolster assemblies that will provide increased service life.

Another object of this invention is to provide a center plate assemblythat may be utilized to replace existing center plate components onpreexisting center sill-body bolster and truck bolster assemblies.

A further object of the invention is to provide a two piece hardeneddetached center plate filler that will permit the rotational movement ofthe truck action to be limited to the flat hard surfaces between the twohalves.

An additional object is to provide a one-piece center plate fillerdesigned to cause the rotational movement of the truck action to belimited to the top surface thereof and the lower bearing surface of thebody bolster center plate.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel centerplate assembly designed to resist eccentric forces due to impact andlateral parallelograming forces normally sustained to a larger extent byother structural components.

The novel features of the invention, as well as additional objects andadvantages thereof, will be more fully understood from the followingdescription when read in connection with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view in partial cross section of a center plateassembly according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a body center plate;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevation view in cross section of a centerplate assembly containing a two piece center filler according to anotherembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevation view in cross section of a centerplate assembly containing a two piece center filler showing a centerfiller retaining means according to another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary elevation view in cross section of another formof a two piece center filler illustrating another center fillerretaining means;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary elevation view partially in cross section of thesame type of center filler shown in FIG. 5 but with a different type ofretaining means;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary elevation view partially in cross section of acenter plate assembly illustrating still another form of a two piececenter filler assembly according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an elevation view in cross section of still another two piececenter filler construction in a center plateassembly according to theinvention; and

FIG. 9 is a partial plan view topside of the assembly illustrated inFIG. 8.

Broadly, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided acenter plate assembly for a railway car. The assembly comprises a bodybolster center plate having a lower bearing surface and a truck bolstercenter plate having an upper bearing surface and an outer peripheralflange surrounding said surface and projecting upwardly therefrom todefine a cavity therein. Between the body center plate and the truckcenter plate is disposed a detached center filler having upper and lowerbearing surfaces which cooperate with the bearing surfaces of the truckand body center plates to carry vertical and horizontal loadstherebetween. The surfaces of the center filler have a hardness greaterthan that of the bearing surfaces of the truck center plate bowl and ahardness compatible with the bearing surface of the body center plate.The filler and all of the plates contain a substantially centrallylocated opening therein in vertical alignment for receiving a pin means.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a center plate assembly 10containing a one piece center filler l2 having a frusto-conicalconfiguration. The center filler is disposed within the cavity 14defined by an upwardly projecting flange 16, generally circular,extending from the truck bolster 18. The lower surface 20 of the centerfiller is disposed adjacent the upper bearing surface 22 of the truckcenter plate bowl. A resilient pad 24, such as, an elastomer mat or hardparticle impregnated cloth or hard particle in.a soft matrix may bedisposed between these surfaces 20 and 22 as a friction-increasingmeans. The upper bearing surface 26 of the center filler is in contactwith the lower bearing surface 28 of the body center plate 30 which alsois disposed within the cavity defined by the peripheral flange on thetruck bolster. The center filler is preformed of cast steel or the likeand the bearing surfaces are case hardened by known metallurgicalmethods for long service life. The

body center plate may be secured to the center sill 32 by means of aweldment 34 located at the underside of said sill. However, it could beattached by other known means, i.e., bolting, riveting or it could becast integral with the car body bolster. Preferably the body centerplate also is preformed of cast steel and the bearing surfaces are casehardened. The ideal condition would be that the upper bearing surface ofthe center filler have a hardness slightly less than the bearing surfaceof the body center plate so that any wear will be taken by the detachedcenter filler which is easily replaced. A vertical king pin 36 extendsupwardly from a bore 38 in the truck bolster through the center fillerand body center plate, each having a centrally located opening 40 and 42to provide a safety measure against separation in the event of anyvertical displacement in service. Such a connection is conventional inthe industry and will not be further described.

The topmost portion of the body center plate 30, illustrated in FIG. 2,is represented by four corner positioning pads 44, each having afinished horizontally extending surface and connecting with intermediatebeveled welding surfaces 46. The upper section includes a thinencircling wall 48 which extends integrally upward from the plane ofpads 44 and slopes approximately 2 to 3 inward to permit easy insertionwithin the center sill pocket. Providing additional reinforcement to thecentral hub 50 are a plurality of web flanges 52, extending radially tomerge with each of the enclosing side walls 48.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a center plate assembly 54 in whichthe center filler 56 is a two piece unit having a top section 58 and abottom section 60. The two piece center filler is disposed within thecavity 62 of the truck center plate 64 defined by peripheral flange 66projecting upwardly from the body bolster 68. In this embodiment, theupper and lower sections of the center filler are opposed frusto-conicalshapes and the lower bearing surface 70 of the body center plate 72 andthe upper bearing surface 74 of the truck center plate 64 are of similaropposed concave frustoconical shape. The body center plate 72 containsan outer peripheral flange 76 surrounding the lower bearing surface andprojecting downwardly therefrom and overlapping the upwardly projectingflange 66 of the truck center plate to restrain lateral movementtherebetween. The body center plate is shown as being secured to thecenter sill by a weldment 78, and in turn, the center sill 80, which isgenerally U-shaped in configuration, is attached to the body bolster 82by a weldment 84.- This two piece design relies upon friction betweenthe body center plate bearing surface 70 and the top surface 86 of theupper section 58 of the center filler and the truck center plate bearingsurface 74 and the bottom surface 88 of the two piece center filler inorder to make the relative rotational movement take place at theintermediate surfaces 89 of the hardened center filler. The relativehardness of bearing surfaces can readily be determined by those skilledin the art with Rockwell & Vickers testing apparatus and procedures orothers known in the art. Preferably, resilient but hard urethane mats 90are disposed between the upper and lower bearing surfaces of the twopiece center filler and the bearing surfaces of the truck center plateand body center plate to increase the friction of these surfaces. Otherfriction increasing means, such as. a bitumastic compound or compositematerials, i.e.,

hard particles on cloth or in a soft matrix, may also be employed.

In FIG. 4 there is shown a two piece center filler 92 in which the upperand lower sections 94 and 96 have at least one vertical projection 98and 100 extending therefrom. Also the upper and lower bearing surfaces102 and 104 of the truck and body center plates 106 and 108,respectively, have at least one vertical recess 110 and 112 for matingwith the projections and restraining rotational movement therebetween.

In FIG. 5 there is shown a center plate assembly 114 containing a twopiece center filler 116 having relatively flat upper and lower surfaces118 and 120. The filler is disposed within the cavity 122 of the truckcenter plate 124 defined by the upwardly extending peripheral flange 126from the truck bolster. The body center plate 128 contains an outerperipheral flange 130 which overlaps the flange 126 of the truck centerplate to restrain lateral movement therebetween. Between the upperbearing surface 118 of the upper section 132 of the center filler 116and the lower bearing surface 134 of the body center plate, there isdisposed an elastomer mat 136 for increasing friction therebetween. Thelower section 138 of the center filler contains at least one lateralprojection 140 extending therefrom which mates with at least one lateralrecess 142 in the upwardly projecting flange 126 of the truck centerplate for restraining rotational movement therebetween. It should beunderstood that both the upper and lower sections of the center fillermay contain a plurality of projections which mate with a plurality ofrecesses in the upwardly projecting flange, or the upwardly projectingflange of the truck center plate may be segmented or discontinuous toprovide vertical slots between segments of the flange for restrainingrotational movement of both sections.

In FIG. 6 there is shown a center plate assembly 144 having a two piecerelatively flat center filler 146 disposed within the cavity 148 of thetruck center plate 150. The upper and lower sections 152 and 154 of thecenter filler and the bearing surfaces 156 and 158 of the body and truckcenter plates 160 and 150 all contain aligned openings in which dowels162 are disposed to preclude rotational movement between the upper andlower surfaces 164 and 166 of the center filler and body and truckcenter plate surfaces 156 and 158 and to make the relative rotationalmovement take place at the intermediate surfaces 168 of the hardenedcenter filler. The dowels in the figure are shown in line only for thepurpose of illustration. In service the dowels are positioned so thatthey could not become aligned.

Referring to FIG. 7, there is shown another construction for a two piececenter filler. The upper section 170 of the filler 172 has afrusto-conical surface 174 that is roughened and frictionally engagesthe lower bearing surface 176 of the body center plate 177. The uppersection also contains an outer peripheral lip 178 which projectsdownwardly to define a cavity 180. The lower section 182 which has alower frusto-conical bearing surface 184 which is roughened and inengagement with the upper bearing surface 186 of the truck center plate187 is disposed within the cavity of the upper section 170. Thisconstruction which is partially disposed within the cavity 188 of thetruck center plate and which is overlapped by a downwardly projectingperipheral flange 190 of the body center plate 177 inhibits lateralshifting of the lower section 182 with respect to the truck center plate187 and the upper section 170 with respect to the body center plate 177.The downwardly projecting lip 178 prevents lateral shifting of the lowersection 182 with respect to the upper section 70.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, there is shown a center plate assembly 192having a two piece center filler. The upper section 194 has a centrallylocated downwardly projecting lip 196 surrounding the central opening198. The remainder of the upper section of the center filler isrelatively flat. The bottom section 200 is also relatively flat andcontains a central opening 202 of a size sufficient to accommodate thedownwardly projecting lip 196 in a mating relationship. The upwardlyprojecting flange 204 of the truck center plate contains cutouts 206 forinterlocking with one or more laterally extending flanges 208 on thebottom section 200 of the center filler. The downwardly projectingperipheral flange 210 of the body center plate also contains cutouts 212or recesses for interlocking with laterally projecting flanges 214 ofthe upper section 194 of the center filler. Thus, the rotationalmovement is limited to the intermediate surfaces 216 and also adequatelateral restraint in all directions is provided. The same method ofinterlock can be provided on any or all of the configurations.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. A center plate assembly for a railway car comprising a body bolstercenter plate having a lower bearing surface; a truck bolster centerplate having an upper bearing surface and an outer peripheral flangesurrounding said surface and projecting upwardly therefrom to define acavity therein; and a detached center filler having upper and lowerbearing surfaces disposed within the cavity between the body and truckcenter plate bearing surfaces cooperating therewith to carry verticaland horizontal loads therebetween; interengaging means restraining thefiller from lateral and rotational movement; the surfaces of the centerfiller having a hardness greater than that of the bearing surfaces ofthe truck center plate and a hardness compatible with the surfaces ofthe body center plate, the filler and all of said plates having asubstantially centrally located opening therein in vertical alignmentfor receiving a pin means.

2. An assembly according to claim 1 in which a friction increasing meansis disposed between the upper bearing surface of the truck center plateand the lower bearing surface of the center filler.

3. An assembly according to claim 1 in which the friction increasingmeans is an elastomer mat.

4. An assembly according to claim 1 in which the center filler has atleast one lateral projection extending therefrom and the upwardlyprojecting flange of the truck center plate has at least one lateralrecess for mating with said projection and restraining rotationalmovement therebetween.

5. An assembly according to claim 1 in which the lower bearing surfaceof the body center plate is disposed within the truck center platecavity in mating relation to the upper bearing surface of the centerfiller.

6. An assembly according to claim 1 in which the body center plate hasan outer rounding the lower bearing surface and projecting downwardlytherefrom for mating with the upwardly projecting flange of the truckcenter plate to restrain lateral movement therebetween.

7. An assembly according to claim 1 in which the center filler is twopiece having a top section and a bottom section.

8. An assembly according to claim 7 in which the upper and lowersections are opposed frusto-conical shapes and the lower bearing surfaceof the body center plate and the upper bearing surface of the truckcenter plate are of similar opposed concave frusto-conical shape.

9. An assembly according to claim 7 in which the upper and lowersections are relatively flat.

10. An assembly according to claim 7 in which the body center plate hasan outer peripheral flange surrounding the lower bearing surface andprojecting downwardly therefrom and overlapping the upwardly projectingflange of the truck cenlter plate.

11. An assembly according to claim 10 in which the upper and lowersections of the center filler have at least one lateral projectionextending therefrom and the upwardly projecting flange has at least onelateral recess for mating with said projections and restrainingrotational movement therebetween.

12. An assembly according to claim 7 in which the upper and lowersections are opposed frusto-conical shapes and the upper section has anouter peripheral lip downwardly projecting therefrom to define a cavity,the lower section being disposed within said cavity.

13. An assembly according to claim 7 in which a friction increasingmeans is disposed between the top section of the center filler and thelower bearing surface of the body center plate and between bottomsection of the center filler and the upper bearing surface of the truckcenter plate.

14. An assembly according to claim 13 in which the friction increasingmeans is an elastomer mat.

15. An assembly according to claim 7 in which the upper and lowersections of the center filler have at least one vertical projectionextending therefrom and the upper and lower bearing surfaces of thetruck and body center plates, respectively, have at least one verticalrecess for mating with said projections and restraining rotationalmovement therebetween.

16. An assembly according to claim 7 in which the upper section has acentrally located downwardly projecting lip surrounding the centralopening and the central opening of the bottom section is of a sizesufficient to accommodate said lip in a mating relationship.

a: a a:

peripheral flange sur-

1. A center plate assembly for a railway car comprising a body bolstercenter plate having a lower bearing surface; a truck bolster centerplate having an upper bearing surface and an outer peripheral flangesurrounding said surface and projecting upwardly therefrom to define acavity therein; and a detached center filler having upper and lowerbearing surfaces disposed within the cavity between the body and truckcenter plate bearing surfaces cooperating therewith to carry verticaland horizontal loads therebetween; interengaging means restraining thefiller from lateral and rotational movement; the surfaces of the centerfiller having a hardness greater than that of the bearing surfaces ofthe truck center plate and a hardness compatible with the surfaces ofthe body center plate, the filler and all of said plates having asubstantially centrally located opening therein in vertical alignmentfor receiving a pin means.
 2. An assembly according to claim 1 in whicha friction increasing means is disposed between the upper bearingsurface of the truck center plate and the lower bearing surface of thecenter filler.
 3. An assembly according to claim 1 in which the frictionincreasing means is an elastomer mat.
 4. An assembly according to claim1 in which the center filler has at least one lateral projectionextending therefrom and the upwardly projecting flange of the truckcenter plate has at least one lateral recess for mating with saidprojection and restraining rotational movement therebetween.
 5. Anassembly according to claim 1 in which the lower bearing surface of thebody center plate is disposed within the truck center plate cavity inmating relation to the upper bearing surface of the center filler.
 6. Anassembly according to claim 1 in which the body center plate has anouter peripheral flange surrounding the lower bearing surface andprojecting downwardly therefrom for mating with the upwardly projectingflange of the truck center plate to restrain lateral movementtherebetween.
 7. An assembly according to claim 1 in which the centerfiller is two piece having a top section and a bottom section.
 8. Anassembly according to claim 7 in which the upper and lower sections areopposed frusto-conical shapes and the lower bearing surface of the bodycenter plate and the upper bearing surface of the truck center plate areof similar opposed concave frusto-conical shape.
 9. An assemblyaccording to claim 7 in which the upper and lower sections arerelatively flat.
 10. An assembly according to claim 7 in which the bodycenter plate has an outer peripheral flange surrounding the lowerbearing surface and projecting downwardly therefrom and overlapping theupwardly projecting flange of the truck center plate.
 11. An assemblyaccording to claim 10 in which the upper and lower sections of thecenter filler have at least one lateral projection extending therefromand the upwardly projecting flange has at least one lateral recess formating with said projections and restraining rotational movementtherebetween.
 12. An assembly according to claim 7 in which the upperand lower sections are opposed frusto-conical shapes and the uppersection has an outer peripheral lip downwardly projecting therefrom todefine a cavity, the lower section being disposed within said cavity.13. An assemBly according to claim 7 in which a friction increasingmeans is disposed between the top section of the center filler and thelower bearing surface of the body center plate and between bottomsection of the center filler and the upper bearing surface of the truckcenter plate.
 14. An assembly according to claim 13 in which thefriction increasing means is an elastomer mat.
 15. An assembly accordingto claim 7 in which the upper and lower sections of the center fillerhave at least one vertical projection extending therefrom and the upperand lower bearing surfaces of the truck and body center plates,respectively, have at least one vertical recess for mating with saidprojections and restraining rotational movement therebetween.
 16. Anassembly according to claim 7 in which the upper section has a centrallylocated downwardly projecting lip surrounding the central opening andthe central opening of the bottom section is of a size sufficient toaccommodate said lip in a mating relationship.